Description:
This is an historical overview of spaceflight, stressing the technology of rockets, satellites and orbits, and its use in unmanned missions. It contains sections on rocket motion, Robert Goddard, history of rocketry and the space race, uses of unmanned spacecraft, and various orbits. Largely narrative, except for detailed derivations of Lagrangian points and gravity-assist maneuvers, it also surveys exotic spaceflight methods--nuclear, cannon, solar sails and ion rockets. It is part of a wider site "From Stargazers to Starships" which has related lesson plans, glossary, timeline, problems, and Spanish and French translations.